Find the Right Rehab, Don’t Gamble With Your Loved One's Life
Addiction spirals fast, waiting can be fatal. Avoid rehab scams and protect your loved one from dangerous, unlicensed facilities in South Africa. Our counsellors are here to help you today.
FREE ASSESSMENT081 444 7000The brutal reality of trying to find a rehab when you’re watching a loved one spiral out of control. You’re in a pressure cooker and every second feels like the ticking of a bomb but here’s the problem it’s not just about finding any rehab. It’s about finding the right rehab. Because the stakes are high, they’re life or death.
Let’s address the elephant in the room: denial. Families tend to sit on the fence longer than they should. It’s human nature. You tell yourself, “Maybe it’s not that bad,” or “They’ll pull through this on their own.” Here’s the reality: it’s probably worse than you think.
Addiction doesn’t politely slow down and give you space to figure it out. It snowballs.
While you’re trying to figure out if it’s time to intervene, “the next right step” your loved one is getting worse. You don’t want to accept it but suicide, accidental overdoses, fatal accidents and full-blown self-destruction are not hypothetical scenarios.
They’re real possibilities looming larger every day you wait.
Addiction can turn a person into someone you barely recognize. Someone who lies, steals, or disappears for days on end. You get phone calls that rip your stomach out, nights where you don’t sleep because you’re wondering if they’ll make it through the night. It is a kind of hell and no, it doesn’t get better on its own.
What’s even worse is that process of finding help? Its own twisted maze, especially if you’re new to the world of addiction treatment.
You might think that the hardest part is convincing your loved one to go to rehab, right? Unfortunately that’s just round one. The real headache starts when you’re desperate for help and realise that the rehab industry isn’t all it seems. There are many legit, life-saving programs out there but they’re surrounded by sharks. And when you’re drowning in desperation, it’s easy to latch onto the wrong lifeline.
You see, not every place that slaps a “rehab” label on their front door actually gives a damn about helping people. There’s a seedy underbelly to this world where referral services that claim to find “the best place” for your loved one, are just funneling them into unlicensed, unregulated facilities for a quick payout. They don’t care about your loved one’s outcome. They care about their bottom line. In virtually every Google search result in South Africa, you will find 2 or 3 of these local and international “rehab” websites which have glossy looking directory listings of expensive flashy upmarket rehab facilities that offer horse rides and golf excursions but doon’t actually deal with any of the the unerlying issues that drive addiction.
They might not look “shady” but in actuallity they are money pits that do very little in helping you through a tough situation.
These shady spots? They’re dangerous. You think you’re sending your loved one to a place where they’ll be safe, maybe even finally get better. But sometimes these places are nothing more than revolving doors, where people go in, get the bare minimum of treatment (if that) and come out in no better shape, or in some cases worse.
When these half-assed rehabs don’t work (which they usually don’t), it plants a seed of hopelessness in everyone involved. You’ll start hearing things like, “We’ve tried everything,” or “Rehab just doesn’t work for them.” And that mindset? It’s very toxic. It can lead to giving up. And when you give up, you might be leaving your loved one in an even worse situation than when you started.
Another nobody mentions is that this stuff is expensive. Even good rehabs can cost in the region of R50 R60k in South Africa but you can easily be duped into thinking that spending MORE in the region of R100K to R1M will get you the “best” tratment only to walk away after a 28 days of a “sober holiday” not having dealt with a single part of the actual addiction problem. And after shelling out for a facility that didn’t do diddly? You might simply not have the resources to pay for the real treatment when it’s actually needed. Many people simply don’t have the money for professional private care rehabs in South Africa. For the majority finding rehab a “make or break”, “hail Mary” as their loved one has “hit rock bottom” and the family desperately puts together the finance and looks for a rehab center (usually online) and takes a shot in the dark. The emotional and financial drain is simply too overwhelming to try again for a second, third or fourth time. And this is where hopelessness becomes yet another hurdle that addiction therapists have to contend with.
Aside from the financial hit the cruelest irony is that you wanted to help but you got burned and now there is a re-enforcing proof of failure. Without getting deep into the psycology, the addict feels like a failure at the best of times but now that feeling is re-enforced by people in their closest, nearest and dearest circle.
Do Your Homework
So, how do you avoid getting trapped in this nightmare? I know, research is the last thing you want to do when you’re on the verge of panic but it’s critical. Look for rehabs that are licensed and accredited. Check if the facility has qualified, credentialed staff, YOU WANT TO SEE THEIR STAFF ON THE WEBSITE. Who they are, what they do and why they do it! LOOK AT THE ACTUAL GOOGLE REVIEWS from past patients!!! Sure their will be the odd bad review (this is mental health treatment) but look at the majority of the reviews ad quickly you will get a picture of who is in the game to help and who is in the game for profit!
Don’t just trust the flashy websites, especially top 10 rehab diretory or a referral services. These are not actually rehabs nor are they based in South Africa, nor do they give a hoot if you or your loved one lives or dies. Yes there are some legit rehabs on those sites but they are lucky packets with glossy covers and have little bearing on the getting actual treatment in South Africa.
If you can, talk to other families who’ve been through it, do. You’re not the first person to be in this position and you won’t be the last. Lean on those who’ve walked this road before.
The Clock is Ticking
I’m not here to sugarcoat anything. The longer you wait to act, the worse things get. Addiction doesn’t take breaks. It progresses and it destroys. And if you’ve got that gut feeling telling you things are about to take a turn for the worse, listen to it. Because every minute that passes is a minute closer to the unthinkable.
And while you’re at it, protect yourself too. Families in crisis are vulnerable. The stress, the heartbreak, the constant anxiety—this stuff takes a toll. Be smart. Surround yourself with support. The process of getting your loved one help is going to test you but their life could depend on it.
Get expert advice on selecting a world-class addiction treatment facility in South Africa. Contact us today!
How we Can Help you
- Free advice by email
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Why Choose Us?
We are based in South Africa and specialise in providing addiction treatment in this area. Because we are part of the local professional fraternity we are able to visit clinics regularly and hear first-hand accounts of their practice. A foreign referral agency will only be able to hear the information that is presented to them. Many of the clinics that we refer to are willing to pay your consultation fee on your behalf – this means our advice is FREE! Contact us today.
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